This invention pertains to material handling landscaping devices and, in particular, to a shoveling hand cart apparatus for use by individuals to shovel and scoop and move large and bulky items without the necessity of lifting the large and bulky items over the elevated sides found in most garden carts or wheelbarrows.
There are a large number of devices used for carrying heavy loads in landscaping and construction work. Obviously, the most common device is the standard wheelbarrow. Another type of device is the hand truck such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,961. The wheelbarrows can carry a heavy load and be pushed into rough areas, but they have their limitations also. The individuals pushing them have to maintain the balance of the wheelbarrow because of the large single wheel at the forward structural area of the wheelbarrow. Also, pushing a wheelbarrow puts an awful lot of pressure on the back of the individual who picks up the handles with a load on the wheelbarrow and then balancing them. Also it takes a lot of work to load them as the material has to be picked up by hand or with a shovel and placed into the wheelbarrow. They are also not.suited for very-large or heavy items like boulders. Attempts have been made to improve the wheelbarrow such as the U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,298 issued on Feb. 11, 1997 to Yoshihisa Watanabe for a Wheelbarrow.
Another type of device is the garden cart which usually has two large wheels just forward of the midpoint of the structure. It is much more stable but still requires a lot of effort to lift items into the cart and lifting the handles with the cart loaded.
What is needed is a shoveling hand cart apparatus that permits the user to load the device without having to lift the item and, at the same time, is designed to be easy to balance and move from one area to another. There is also prior art on shovels and shoveling devices with wheels, such as the U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,073 issued to Jul. 11, 1979 to William Oakes for a xe2x80x9cSnow Scoopxe2x80x9d and the U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,385 issued to Boleslaw Baranowski et al for a xe2x80x9cApparatus For Taking Up and Removing matter From a Surfacexe2x80x9d. There are some with large almost bin like shovels. However, these devices are primarily wheeled shovels to aid in the shoveling of loose items rather than the lifting and transport of other types of heavy bulky loads. These devices do not have great maneuverability and operability working under heavy loads, nor do they to push and hold the bin at various angles of attack in order to scoop loads at a walking pace.
It is the object of this invention to teach a shoveling hand cart or truck apparatus which avoids the disadvantages and limitations, recited above in previous wheelbarrow and garden cart shoveling apparatus. Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus that is inexpensive to manufacture, can be massed produced and can be easily used and set up by the user and, at the same time, be effective with heavy loads and also with a variety of large, bulky loads from shoveling snow to moving bulky boulders.
Particularly, it is the object of this invention to teach a shoveling hand cart apparatus, for use by individuals in order to easily handle bulky or heavy loads with an apparatus that can be quickly loaded and unloaded, comprising a unibody chamber for receiving heavy or bulky loads; said unibody chamber having a base, side walls and an arcuate rear section for enclosing said heavy or bulky loads; said unibody chamber having a rear wheel assembly positioned above the bottom edge of said base of said chamber and adjacent to said side walls and said arcuate rear section; said unibody, chamber further having a front wheel assembly positioned above the bottom edge of said base and adjacent to the forward portion of said side walls; and handle means attached to said side walls for operating and controlling said shoveling hand cart apparatus.
It is also the object of this invention to teach a shoveling hand cart apparatus, for use by individuals in order to easily handle bulky or heavy loads with an apparatus that can be quickly loaded and unloaded, comprising in combination a unibody chamber for receiving heavy or bulky loads having a base, side walls and an arcuate rear section with an open front section, said chamber having a rear wheel assembly and a front wheel assembly and handle means attached to said side walls for operating and controlling said shoveling hand cart apparatus.